Off Topic, recording question

[Rick6]

Wrong forum, but there so much expertise here I thought I'd ask.  Any help would be much appreciated.

I'm new to recording, but I want to record my guitar/bass duo. Maybe a single vocal.

We'd like to do it ourselves.

So, I understand that what I need is an audio interface that has 4 inputs (or 5 with vocals) and puts out four (or five) separate outputs.  Guitar and bass each direct and also each mic'ed, for a total of 4 inputs.

What I want to see in the software (on a Windows computer), afterwards, is four (or five) separate waveforms that I can cut, paste and or process.

First, does this make sense and second, what interface should I consider?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Rick

[agedhorse]

There are standard interfaces that are 8 analog to USB or FireWire, or ADAT8 digital out. Choose one that matches your input.

[Audiopile]

I'm just getting into recording with an X32 compact, and so-far I'm liking how it's turning out.

[agedhorse]

Active DI takes care of any impedance issues but you need to be sure your interface will work with all of the levels you will be providing. Many are line level only.

[MarkGifford-1]

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agedhorse wrote:

Active DI takes care of any impedance issues but you need to be sure your interface will work with all of the levels you will be providing. Many are line level only.

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Virtually all of the cheap 2-in interfaces have both mic/line inputs.

You tend to lose the mic ins and have just balanced +4 line ins on the higher end A/D stuff, which this guy doesn't have.

 

MG

[agedhorse]

The op was asking about multichannel interfaces, most do not have unbalanced inputs. Also, most 2 channel interfaces do not have high impedance (passive instrjment friendly) instrument inputs, just line level, approx 10k impedance.

[Unalaska]

There are tons of audio interfaces out there bundled with software, really you're dealing with price points. Why 4 outputs though?

[DanBAP]

 

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agedhorse wrote:

 

The op was asking about multichannel interfaces, most do not have unbalanced inputs. Also, most 2 channel interfaces do not have high impedance (passive instrjment friendly) instrument inputs, just line level, approx 10k impedance.

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Sorry, Andy, but you're wrong, particularly in regards to items geared towards the entry-level music market. I'd guess that easily two-thirds (likely more) of the multichannel interfaces available have some sort of high-impedance instrument input (not necessarily on all channels). I don't think I've ever seen a budget-level interface that didn't have a guitar input, and moving up in price point a bit, every unit currently available from MOTU and many of the ones from RME do. Apogee's lower-end units all do, the Ensemble did (before it was discontinued), and it's an option on the Symphony IO. Prism's all-in-one interfaces do (Lyre, Titan, Orpheus). It's only once you start getting into the really high-end stuff that they're all line-level-only.

 

-Dan. 

[agedhorse]

The entry level market appears to have changed in the last few years, though looking at the specs for instrument impedance, 50k is not anywhere near the 1M that is generally accepted as acceptable.

 

The pro market appears to remain line level balanced input in multichannel format... Until remote stage boxes and AES compatability change that game too.

[Dogoth]

It's a duo you want to record?

If you don't mind doing the vocal tracks seperately (at a later time) you could probably get by with a 2 in - 2 out interface (USB is the easy route). Just make sure the interface has "mic level" inputs and +48V phantom power. Any decent DI Should serve you well (in some cases an active DI will work better and a pad & ground lift switch is handy as well). FWIW a decent 2X2 USB audio I/O device can be had for well under $200 (stay away from the cheap brands as you basicly get what you pay for).

The important thing is that you have multi track DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software. The number of recorded tracks depends on your computer's speed & power (the iinterface only dictates how many tracks you can record simultaniously).  There are lots of articles about optimal machines but for under 8 tracks or so, most any decent computer will do. There are some free DAWs around but I can't recommend any from experiance (I'm most familiar with Nuendo & Pro-tools which are both pretty expensive). There may be an inexpensive Pro-tools lite which I'd recommend because you'll find forums in which to ask questions as they arise (lots of users). Also Pro-tools is a universaly accepted format if you wanted to take your project to another studio.

There's more to it than meets the eye (expect a bit of a learning curve at first) but once you get it all figured out, you'll see the possibilities are nearly endless. Also FWIW some interfaces come bundled with lite versions of a DAW (maybe even Pro-tools). For recording a duo, this is probably all that you need.

Have fun and enjoy the learning process